Howard Berger
Howard Berger was, with Greg Nicotero, in charge of special make-up effects for Torchwood: Miracle Day. He is the only person, as of January 2013[update], to receive an Oscar prior to working in the Doctor Who universe.[1] Robert Kurtzman, Nicotero and he formed KNB Efx Group in 1988. KNB's best-noticed work was likely on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. That work was awarded both a BAFTA and an Oscar. However, due to a quirk in the rules for the American Academy's "Best Make-up" category, only two individuals can be nominated for a single work. Consequently, Berger won both awards, while Nicotero only won a BAFTA. That said, Berger worked on The Pacific with Nicotero, but got no Emmy Award, while Nicotero got two.
Berger's resumé is extensive, as he's been solidly working on multiple projects each year since the 1980s. However, some points of commonality with others who've worked in the DWU — aside from Nicotero — include: Sin City and Spy Kids, both scored by John Debney; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, featuring Jim Broadbent; The Walking Dead on which he was a consulting producer alongside associate producer Skip Schoolnik, production designer Gregory Melton and editor Hunter M. Via; and The Mist featuring Toby Jones and production designed by Melton. In 2013, he was again nominated by the American Academy for his work on Hitchcock.
Although Nicotero and Berger have jointly worked on many of the same projects, their resumés aren't carbon copies of each other. For instance, only Nicotero worked on Casino Royale featuring Joseph Millson.
Footnote
- ↑ Stephen Regelous is the first person in DWU history to have won an Academy Award prior to working on a DWU show. However, his was an Scientific and Engineering Award, which is an "Academy Award", but not an Oscar. It is also not presented during the Oscar telecast.
